


falling for you hurt like a bitch

by jdmsrovia



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Domestic Avengers, M/M, Multi, Past SteveTony, bruce banner is a huge dork, but spoiler alert, peppernat, so is Thor, thor tries to make friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-23 00:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15594336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdmsrovia/pseuds/jdmsrovia
Summary: Bruce and his friends are counting down the days to graduation. There's only one year left, and Bruce is determined to get through it as peacefully and stress-free as possible. That is, of course, until a dumbass Norwegian transfer student arrives just in time to turn his whole life upside down.or the one where I can't write good summaries, and two teenage disaster gays learn to fall in love





	1. east coast relocations

**Author's Note:**

> thorbruce is the superior ship, change my mind (you can't)
> 
> also bear in mind i'm not american and therefore don't understand the american school system, so please forgive any inaccuracies/mistakes lmao

Bruce was never destined to be popular, nor did he have any remote desire to be. He wasn't the type of guy to fit in with the crowds he could never understand, yet he wasn't the type to completely isolate himself either. He preferred to just blend in, quietly existing in the back of the class or the corner of the cafeteria, content to drift through each hour not speaking unless spoken to. In Bruce's eyes, as long as he made it through high school with good grades, a few good friends, and a less than memorable influence that extended to his peers one day admitting while perusing their yearbooks that they have no fucking clue who he was, he'd be happy.

Unfortunately, because Bruce is Bruce and when does he ever get what he wants, this didn't happen. Well, two of those things didn't happen. One of those things, in fact, blew up so unbelievably spectacularly that the memory of the exact moment in which Bruce nose dived his life into a flaming pit of molten lava was ingrained in his brain indefinitely. But graduation day was a long way off from the first day of senior year, that's for sure.

In fact, the best and worse day of Bruce's life was approximately 268 days away from the moment the book he had three seconds previous been enthralled in was torn from his hands unexpectedly, as Tony hauled himself over the lunch table to rip it from his hands.

"What the ever living fuck is this?"

Tony inspected the book meticulously, dramatically flicking through the pages as a disgusted grimace dawned on his face.

"A collection of papers glued together in a certain order to tell stories, kid. You may not recognise it because there isn't a little bunny stamped on the cover." Nat scathed from beside him under her breath, quiet enough to show her complete disinterest in the unfolding events yet loud to receive a sarcastic laugh from Tony as he slammed the book closed, allowing Bruce precious seconds to awkwardly snatch it back.

"That wasn't on the reading list, was it?"

"Of course not. I finished all my bio readings in summer so I asked Carmichael to give me some extra novels for literature." Bruce flattened out the fresh creases of his copy of 1984 before reclining back in his chair, adjusting his glasses accordingly while propping his feet up on the spare seat next to him.

"Oh thank fuck for that. It's bullshit I have to read for any of my classes anyway, it's not like I'm gonna need to know Othello off by heart when I'm 50, am I? Unless I decide to go on a killing spree, though, which at this point is a very real career prospect for me. Oh, and I have about five million nerd jokes busting to come out but in the spirit of freshers week, I'll refrain just this once."

Bruce furrowed his brow in confusion before glancing at Nat, who simply shrugged nonchalantly.

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome, Brucie." Tony grinned childishly as he proudly stretched his arms behind his head, but his confidence was short-lived as Pepper suddenly slammed her pen down, demanding Tony's attention and giving the rest of the group a heart attack.

"Do you think you could maybe keep it down for just one second while I'm studying? Ever? And Tony, you wouldn't even need to do the extra classes if you ever turned up for school and had an attendance higher than 38%."

"Oh, well, sue me for not being the most perfect human being in existence _Virginia_ , just because I happened to miss two to two-hundred irrelevant classes last year."

"Attending school is literally the bare minimum expectation for us. Do you know that? It's important to me that you know that." Bruce condescendingly interrupted, just as _that_ name registered in Pepper's mind and her face contorted with anger as she positioned herself to get up and slap Tony, who had already stopped paying attention and was now balancing various stationary on his head with Nat's assistance. Bruce had learnt from previous experience it was more painless to just zone out.

He turned away from the others and rested his head against the large window that stretched across the expanse of the cafeteria hall, allowing his eyes to fall shut as he listened to the pounding rain.

He was always grateful to have claimed this seat early on in his school years, so he always had the advantage point of being able to observe the whole cafeteria safely tucked away in the corner as well as examine the pathetic excuse for a school 'garden' and the creepy swaying trees outside in every light, weather, and mood when everything inside got a bit too much.

Bruce adores his friends, but even for him, there's only so much bickering and petty squabbling he can put up with before he simply tunes them all out to bask in the sun or trace the streaks of falling snow on the misty glass. Sometimes being ignored could feel like the most convenient blessing.

Incidentally, the loudest member of their group happened to be Bruce's first best friend. Bruce had vaguely known Tony since they were freshmen, as everyone in the school did. His surname was unmistakable and his flashy car and weird-ass clothes were pretty hard to ignore.

It wasn't until early sophomore year though, when a sickly looking Tony slid up to Bruce midway through chemistry class and whispered in an eerily calm tone, _"Someone may or may not have accidentally left a concoction of chemicals sitting in a sink in the boys bathroom thinking it would make a stink bomb without realising it's quite possibly, rather probably a completely unintentionally real bomb that a certain someone needs the smartest kid in class help retrieve"_ , that Bruce and Tony were thrust into each other's lives. I mean, once you scold someone for simultaneously not paying attention in class and almost blowing up a school it's kinda hard to go back to acquaintance level companionship.

Without Tony, though, Bruce would never have met the others. Pepper was great. She was probably the only one of them who had the patience and the intelligence to provide some sense of order to an otherwise chaotic mess of teenagers. She seemed to Bruce a bit uptight sometimes, but he would quickly call himself out internally for being a hypocrite when such thoughts ever occurred.

Nat was... Nat. Even after spending so much time with her in and outside of school Bruce still didn't know a thing about her personal life. Ironically, they have psychology class together, but even sharing the literal study of emotions didn't help Bruce have any idea what goes on in her head sometimes. Unlike people assume, however, Bruce knows while she's reserved and quietly observational, she's not unfeeling. Bruce regularly notices the unmistakable way she looks at Pepper, although he'd never utter a word on the subject if not for the sake of keeping his jugular intact but also because he found himself respecting her far too much to ever bring it up. And obviously, he'd rather live past to see the end of high school if he could help it.

"Banner, I leave for a few hours and the kids are out of control."

Bruce snapped out of his daydream and peered over his shoulder, where he was promptly met with a bright white smile and perfectly etched biceps towering over him, the only person on the premises appearing to be glowing like a fucking sunshine in the middle of the storm of the century.

He shifted his legs so that Steve could take a seat in between him and the others, who mumbled a half-hearted greeting seeing as though they were far too involved in their current bickering over Nat's 'irresponsible enabling', Tony's 'insolent and childish behaviour', and Pepper's 'stupid face'.

"Heavy day, huh?" Bruce inquired as he raised his eyebrows and suppressed a laugh as he took in Steve's haggard, exhausted appearance. He watched Steve dump his tonne-weight gym bag on the floor and slam his head on the table, his soaked hair dripping everywhere like a wet dog.

"You have no idea. If this storm doesn't let up soon I swear I'm packing up and moving to.. I don't know. Florida."

Bruce didn't have the heart to tell him. "Good plan."

Steve was about the only jock in the whole school he could stand being around. Actually, simply being friends with him was unprecedented. Steve was the kind of guy everyone liked, who milled around every social circle and drifted from lunch table to lunch table, uncaring of any perceived status quo.

He was only involved with their friendship group through Tony, however, whom Bruce was informed had a fling together a few summers back that swiftly ended with the entrance of an art student ex he'd never heard of. Bruce was quite content avoiding opening that can of worms by never asking to know any more than that.

"He's a beast man, I'm tellin' ya."

Bruce blinked dumbly a few times before turning his whole body to face him, no longer distracted by the thunder raging outside. "Wait, what did you say?"

"The new guy? You know, the blond one. Built like a tank. Nice guy... kinda odd though. I don't think he's from around here. You haven't met him?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well, you will soon. I heard he's in Carmichael's literature class so no doubt you'll meet him tomorrow."

"Right.. yeah. Yeah. Tomorrow" Bruce's thoughts drifted before he'd even finished the sentence. Quicker in fact than it took Steve to completely zone out of the conversation too in order to concentrate on shovelling down his food as fast as humanly possible while fighting off Tony's irritated swatting.

New guy?

Shit. Bruce had no idea why those two words suddenly filled him with so much dread. Well, that's a lie. He knew exactly why his stomach had suddenly dropped 50 feet into the ground.

Bruce had been beyond lucky with his classes this year being paired with his friends and great teachers. In fact, it was one of the very few times in his life something by chance had actually played out smoothly and completely stress-free. The last thing Bruce needed was for a new jock determined to prove himself king asshole crashing the one class he can relax in. Every jock Bruce has ever come into contact with (except Steve) has acted as if it's their job to personally make his life a living nightmare. They weren't bullies, not really. Steve wouldn't tolerate them if they were. They're just insufferable jerks.

Bruce sighed heavily before haphazardly packing his bag and stood from the table, departing wordlessly unnoticed by his dumbass friends. He headed straight to Carmichael's early, determined to find out more about this new kid and build up the courage to beg his teacher to _please, please not fuck up the only chilled out class he has with the overbearing presence of a tank resembling soccer beast._

But alas, when does Bruce ever get what he wants.

Never, apparently, his internal thoughts scream at him as he bursts through the classroom door and straight into what his short-circuiting brain can only describe as blond, vest-clad giant with a chest solid enough to send Bruce flying unceremoniously onto his ass.


	2. you're so screwed now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce is a hot mess and all his friends know it. Thor, on the other hand, sees him a very different way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMFAOOOO I'M ONLY ONE CHAPTER IN AND I ALREADY FUCKED UP THE TIMELINE SLDSJKFS SO LET'S PRETEND THE LAST CHAPTER TOOK PLACE AT BREAK TIME (do Americans call it that? recess maybe?) AND ALL MOVE ON WITH OUR LIVES OKAY
> 
> Also I'm sorry for such a long delay! I didn't expect people to actually read this nevermind hope for more lmfao. Hopefully this longer chapter makes up for it!

"Holy shit, are you alright?"

Bruce dared to crack one eye open as he peered up at the seemingly eight-foot giant leaning over him, eyes wide with shock.

"Never better, thanks."

The thought occurred to him briefly that his bitterness may have been more keenly felt if he wasn't lying undignified on the cold floor showered in fallen books and notes. He didn't have long to consider this, however, before he felt a strong grip on his upper arm haul him to his feet as a surprised squeal left his throat.

"Uh- thank. Thanks. Thank you, man. Although I probably could have done that myself." He awkwardly folds his arms in pathetic defiance and shakes his head to get his long curls out of his eyes, a nervous tick he usually tries to keep in check.

"Worry not. It was my fault anyway, I shouldn't have been standing in front of the door like a damn tree." Bruce tries to not look at the hint of red gracing the giant's cheek while ignoring his own burning hot face and instead focuses on the wide, toothy smile suddenly beaming in front of him.

In fact, once he starts, Bruce finds it pretty difficult to stop staring. That's until he also discovers the thick blond hair, impressive stubble and mesmerising brown and blue eyes approximately 10 inches from his face and consequently forgets how to breathe.

"Seriously though, are you alright?"

A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Bruce realises he's conscious and having a conversation with another human being, and clears his throat before reassuring the stranger that he was, in fact, fine.

The blond nodded in response and provided an earnest smile before an embarrassed look suddenly flashed across his face. He ducked to the ground so quickly Bruce didn't have time to register what was happening and stared in confusion, hyperaware of the proximity of Thor's head to his crotch.

He comes about 4 seconds too close to having a heart attack before realising he's simply helping him retrieve his scattered books, and he internally rolls his eyes at himself. You would be so damn lucky, he thinks to himself as he sinks to the ground too, not daring to make eye contact at the risk of his bright red face warranting a concerned 911 call.

"I mean I've probably snapped a couple of vertebrae, but whatever. Spines are overrated." He mutters under his breath, but apparently just loud enough for the blond to hear. Bruce hears the soft laugh behind him, causing his cheeks to darken even further.

"I'm Bruce, by the way." He offers, still staring hard at his chemistry notes.

"It's nice to meet you, Bruce. I'm Thor."

-

Bruce sometimes wondered what he was in a past life. Some people remember that kind of stuff, right? There are people who say they have memories of being nurses in world war two or gladiators in Rome and shit like that, aren't there?

Bruce can't remember a damn thing.

He continues to wonder, though, what terrible, heinous crime he must have committed in a previous body to deserve the constant shit storm provided to him by the universe now that guarantees he can never have anything good or normal.

He imagines the universe stabbing little pins into a crudely crafted Bruce Banner voodoo doll as he stares intently at the clock on the wall, completely oblivious to the outside world.

Well, not the whole world. He steals a glance to his left, a few rows down, where he sees for the hundredth time that hour the blond stranger, chewing absent-mindedly on a pen top while listening intently to another of Carmichael's ramblings.

Thor. Of course his name had to be cute, that motherfucker. 

It'd been a long time since Bruce had actually found someone attractive enough to ogle this much from afar.

He'd had brief encounters, as he'd call it, throughout high school but relationships never really mattered to him, and certainly weren't a priority when it came to anything except for work in his life. There were the odd occasions obviously, at parties or get-togethers. Betty was his first girlfriend (if you could even call it that) but it hadn't lasted long, mainly due to her father's position as principal and personal vendetta against Bruce kinda killing the mood. There'd been girls and guys at parties, (even Tony one particularly memorable tequila-fueled birthday celebration), but nothing ever serious or brought about through a genuine crush. It was kind of weird for Bruce to be so entranced by the guy he met five minutes ago by running headfirst into his chest, and he couldn't stand that this new distraction was almost definitely going to be a pain in his ass.

Distractions weren't really his thing, see. He has his work and he has his friends, and that's it. After so long of sitting in the lab or the library after school to prolong going home you get used to doing work, and once you get used to doing work it seems a lot harder to do anything else.

Bruce could never figure out if his obsessive need to work was a blessing or a curse, but if it provided him with the skills necessary to learn how to not be distracted by his circus group of peers, it must be a good thing.

Besides, Bruce has sat through exams in the same room as Clint Barton. He can do anything.

Except, apparently, resisting the temptation to stare longingly at the cute braid tucked neatly behind Thor's ear, or the colourful friendship bracelets littering his tan wrist or the way the taut muscles in his arms moved when he raised his hand to answer a question. Jesus, Bruce knew if he didn't stop staring at the clock and dare a glance again he would literally implode.

Thankfully though, the shrewd bell ring brought him back, and he hastily rose to his feet intending to hightail it out of there and ignore the rest of the class filing out into the corridor.

He straightened his glasses and began packing his books into his backpack before he noticed a large presence at his side, and he turned around slowly.

Thor was standing with one hand excitedly gripping the strap of his backpack and the other tucked nervously in the front pocket of his jeans, beaming at him again with that signature smile Bruce was definitely not going to see in his dreams.

"So, my place or yours?"

Bruce blinked twice. Three times, actually. And once more for good measure.

Thor's smile faltered for a moment as he continued to stare expectantly, while Bruce's internal organs began to shut down.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Thor's smile fell completely and he abruptly swapped his humorous tone for a concerned one. "For the project? The one Mr. Carmichael just told us about?"

Jesus fucking Christ. Bruce _had_ to stop zoning out when people are talking.

"Sorry, I uh, blanked out for a bit at the end there. What project?"

Thor hesitated awkwardly before talking, his confidence rapidly fading. "We're starting the Keats project tomorrow and Carmichael paired us up." He laughed timidly but it dissipated as Bruce still watched blankly, and Thor cleared his throat. "He said we need to work together to complete a 5,000-word essay and I figured since the library is closed we'll have to just do it outside of school. At, um, your place or mine."

Bruce's heart suddenly dropped.

Oh.

He continued to stare for a few more seconds, his brain suddenly going into overdrive. A horrible feeling began welling in his stomach as he tried desperately to find the words, _any_ words.

"That's uh, that's totally fine. Cool. But, well, my place isn't exactly uh, t-the best, I think," Thor knotted his eyebrows in confusion as he continued to stare into Bruce's soul. "I can't really um, I can't-"

"Hey fucker what's taking you so - Oh." Bruce snapped his head to the side to see Tony swinging through the doorway, bright purple sunglasses failing to hide his obvious shock. "Well hello there."

Bruce swallowed thickly as he glanced back at Thor, whose anxiety was painfully clear as he coughed awkwardly and stretched his arm back to scratch the back of his neck. Well done, Banner. You've already fucked up. That's a new record.

"I don't believe we've met, blondie. I'm Tony." He extended his hand for a reluctant Thor, who shook his hand strongly before returning the pleasantries. The whole situation felt so oddly formal it was enough to make Bruce question if there's any way those pot brownies he ate four months ago could still be in his system.

"You got any plans for lunch, pointbreak?"

Thor chuckled slightly as he stood up a little straighter, confidence slowly returning. "No, I don't actually. Would it be alright if I sat with you?"

Bruce couldn't help but rapidly begin to feel like a third wheel, his loyalty to his best friend the only obstacle stopping him kicking Tony in the shin for flashing his movie star smile at the other man. He carefully eyed the distance to which Tony was leaning towards Thor and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

If Bruce is remembering correctly, and he always does, there's only ever been three times in their entire friendship when Bruce has genuinely been angry with Tony.

The first time was sophomore year, at Hope Pym's Halloween party, when Tony abandoned Bruce to finish their Mr Blue Sky duet alone after ditching the makeshift karaoke stage to disappear into the back bedroom with a shoddy looking stormtrooper. Bruce would have killed him if he hadn't turned up at his door the next morning with two iced coffees, a large supply of aspirin and a box of apology doughnuts, although the nickname 'Han Solo' stuck for 6 insufferable months.  

The second was during their first summer as friends, when Tony had shown up at his house to pick him up for the group camping trip. Before then, Bruce had never mentioned his dad to anyone. Deep down he knew it'd come up sooner or later, but he hoped to avoid the topic as long as possible. That's why he had told Tony not to come near the house that weekend while his father was home. He _fucking_  told him. But because Tony was Tony and he does what he wants when he wants, that morning he had torn through the small terrace street and skidded up the driveway, completely unaware of the drunken mess soon to meet him out front with a colourful vocabulary and a shiny new baseball bat. They bolted unscathed except for an ugly dent in the hood of Tony's car, but he had smiled apologetically and reassured Bruce he was more than capable of paying for damages. That was the first time Tony ever saw Bruce cry or gave him a sincere apology. It was also the first time Tony told him about Howard.

The third and final time was a lot less severe, two months ago during a particularly competitive and drunk game of Twister. Bruce and Tony had made a secret pact beforehand to sabotage their components but during the game Tony strategically kneed Bruce in the crotch causing him to collapse miserably and drag Rhodey down with him, leaving Tony the ultimate champion. Bruce honest to god felt betrayed, and Tony he insisted he was aiming for Rhodey, but given the group had more than two brain cells they officially decreed he was "a bitch ass liar" and granted Bruce one free punch to the dick at any time before graduation. He was still waiting for the perfect moment to cash it in.  

It took a few moments for Bruce to snap out of his memories to refocus on the situation at hand. The resurging anger bubbling in his chest dissipated quickly, however, as he realised with a fluttering feeling in his stomach that Tony was watching expectantly as Thor stared straight at him. He wasn't asking Tony after all, he was asking Bruce.

His never-ending internal clock allowed him the right amount of time to provide an eager reply without sounding too keen, and Tony clapped his hands loudly before leading the way to the cafeteria.

-

Thor fell into step beside Bruce, not-so-conspicuously maintaining an appropriate distance between the two.

"I just have to text my brother, if that's alright? We pinky promised not to abandon each other the first week; I believe he expected we'd not make any friends and be stuck with one another for the rest of the year."

Bruce thought he was so fucking cute it physically hurt. He pictured Thor, the 6ft something definition of masculinity, doing a dainty little pinky promise. Suddenly he had chest pains.

"Well, at least you've proven him wrong." Bruce smiled sweetly, hoping to reassure a very obviously insecure Thor that they were friends.

Kind of. Almost.

Thor must have appreciated the sentiment, Bruce noticed, as he smiled softly in return. It was like looking at the sun, he thought. He could only admire him a few seconds before having to duck his head and hide his smile in the shadow of his long curls.

-

By the time they got to the cafeteria, it was already heaving; seas of students milling in awkward spots or walking _right in front of you_ , jocks shoving one another into crowds of cheerleaders and freshmen darting around disorientedly. The whole hall a cacophony of annoyingly hysterical laughter and chatter so loud you could barely hear yourself think.

"This... is not like my old school," Thor admitted, surveying the area with an uncomfortable gaze.

"Oh yeah? How so?" Bruce effectively yelled as he squashed passed a table of goths who side eyed the pair with such disdain Thor almost apologised before he thought better of it and darted through a gap in the crowds.

"It's... busy."

Bruce barked out a laugh at that and immediately covered his mouth, not wanting to sound mean. That was an understatement if ever he'd heard one.

"Well if you're not keen on noise, my friends, uh, might not be the best-"

"Attention assholes!" Tony raised his arms above his head in a dramatic gesture, as if his explicit shouting wasn't enough to grab the attention of their table of friends.

Clint, Pepper, Maria and Rhodey all looked up immediately, if not reluctantly, while Nat failed to grace the comment with a flinch and Steve continued napping face down on the table.

"This beautiful human is Thor, he's new and I want you to be functional humans for the first time in your pathetic lives and be on your best behaviour, got it? We all remember what happened last time." The group nodded solemnly as Thor flashed a terrified look towards Bruce, who simply shook his head reassuringly and mouthed not to worry about it.

Bruce took his usual spot nestled in the corner, sighing with relief as he now had space to actually breathe. 

Suddenly, however, he shifted uncomfortably as he instantly realised there were multiple spare seats around the table Thor could choose.

Within seconds his heart started beating a lot faster than normal.

Did it matter to him if Thor sat with someone else? Probably. Should it? Definitely not. Besides, he's only known the guy an hour. His friends were much more confident and funny and attractive than him anyway and oh god, Banner, you're spiralling and-

Oh.

Thor awkwardly perched himself right next to Bruce, their legs barely an inch apart. He flashed him a soft smile and Bruce released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Hi."

Oh fucking hell, Bruce, you're better than this.

Thor laughed softly and raised his eyebrows. "Hello."

Dammit. Bruce ducked his head again to hide his crimson face, going to his bag to fumble around for his book.

By doing so, he missed Thor staring at him again. He had a fond look in his eyes and a gentle smile, studying him carefully. His gaze was only interrupted when the group began introducing themselves.

Bruce also didn't see Nat, however, regarding the interaction quizzically from the other side of the table. He met her eyes briefly but glanced away just as fast, never wanting to know why Natasha Romanoff would be considering him so intently.

"So where did you transfer from? Your accent is freaky as fuck, man." Clint remarked as Rhodey solidly punched him in the arm. "What? Not in a bad way. I just can't tell if you're British or Swedish or fuckin' Elvish."

Thor laughed heartily. "It's alright, really. I'm from Norway, but my mother was raised in England so my brother and I have pretty neutral accents. Apart from the odd word, of course, but I usually try and reign it back."

"Why would you do that? It's cute." Bruce remarked casually.

The whole table froze. A lull in the conversation caused Bruce to peer over the top of his book, confused, and he noticed everyone staring at him in varying stages of wonder.

"Um, thank you." Thor smiled awkwardly before averting his eyes, and Bruce felt his stomach hit the floor. He fucking said that out loud, didn't he?

The motion of Tony's hand covering his mouth to stifle a smile and Maria's comical eyebrow raise confirmed that yes, yes he did just say that out loud, and now he was about ready to climb to the roof of the building and jump straight off it.

"I like it too. It's cool." Nat announced. She flicked her eyes to Bruce's, almost imperceptively, and at that moment wherein everyone's attention suddenly switched to the usually silent redhead Bruce could have simultaneously burst into tears and swerved around the table to crush her in a bear hug for saving him.

"It speaks!" Tony mocked, and an eye-roll from Nat and a "Don't be such a dick." from Pepper soon lead the table to rapidly descend into its standard chaotic chatter and bickering, Bruce's faux pas long forgotten. Bruce ghosted a small, thankful smile to Nat as he put in her headphones, and she winked in response.

Bruce really had to learn to shut up sometimes before he nosedived his entire life into the ground.

He noticed Thor wasn't joining in with the others, instead staring at his phone, an endearing frown adorning his features. "So... no show for your brother?"

He sighed sadly, shaking his head. "No, I'm afraid not. Apparently, Loki neglected to tell me that he decided to skip the rest of his lessons and went home an hour ago."

Bruce's expression changed subtly. On any other day, it wouldn't be a big deal. And it wouldn't matter if it was a friend or anyone else who wanted to skip, but on the first day? When they only had each other? It pissed Bruce off more than he wanted it too.

Considering the disappointment in Thor's eyes as he typed out his texts, Bruce made the internal snap decision that he didn't like this guy at all.

"But pinky promises are sacred!" He whined, attempting to lighten the mood. It caused Thor to giggle softly and Bruce smiled to himself, taking pride in his little victory.

"I know! I'm heartbroken."

After a polite chuckle escaped his lips, Bruce dared a glance at Thor's phone to scan the last few messages, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

 

_**I knew you'd make some friends, brother.**_

 _ **You always do.** _

_**But what if I hadn't?**_

 _ **You were just gonna leave me here alone?** _

_**Precisely.** _

_**What happened to 'I have more honour and dignity than you have ever had, have, or will have in your entire life and my solemn promise will remain unbroken until the day I draw my last breath'?** _

_**I lied.** _

 

"Drittsekk," Thor muttered quietly to himself. Bruce didn't have a clue what it meant, but as he gazed at him through the curtain of curls currently hiding his stupid smitten face, he realised that if pissing off Thor meant he would speak Norwegian more often, maybe having his brother and his dumbass friends around wouldn't be the worst idea ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I had Thor reply to Loki's "I lied" with the snake emoji but ao3 wants to be a little bitch and not let me have my fun.
> 
> alsoo, three quick things:
> 
> 1\. Tony definitely felt awful about the incident with Bruce's dad. I felt bad making Tony out to be so reckless but he is sometimes, however that doesn't mean he didn't regret what happened. You can bet ur ass the whole thing just made him love Bruce 10000x more and rest assured, he would have apologised every day for the rest of their lives if Bruce let him.
> 
> 2\. I'M SORRY THERE'S SO MUCH SCIENCE BROS. I'm worried yall are gonna think this isn't even a thorbruce fic skdksfls but I promise Bruce and Thor get some alone time soon, I just want to give background to Tony and Bruce's friendship because I think it's one of the most interesting and endearing friendships in the mcu and they're just so wholesome I can't help writing them.
> 
> 3\. Should I go on with the storyline about Bruce's dad? In the plan I made for this fic his abusive father is quite a large element of the story but a lot of the feedback I've had on this is people finding it lighthearted and cute, so I don't wanna force it to be dark and angsty if you guys just want a feel-good romance. (I enjoy writing both). Please, PLEASE let me know in the comments what you think? Do I stick with my darker plan with abuse and homophobia etc or make him just a run of the mill asshole in an otherwise pleasant story?
> 
> Love yall. xo


	3. //NOT A CHAPTER - FIC UPDATE//

heyo, i just wanna post an update on this fic bc it's been 9 months since i updated woops

i am continuing !!! this fic isn't dead by any means, i have the next chapter sitting in my drafts and a wholeass detailed plan for the rest which i can't wait to finish.

this past year of college has been so incredibly difficult and stressful but thank the fucking lord i finish in one week for good, so i can actually get down to writing.

thank yall for the continued kudos/comments/support, it means the world to me that people actually wanna read my work and i have eternal love for all my fellow thorbruce warriors <33

either sub to the fic or check back in a few weeks or so for updates, but they will be incoming! i promise xoxo

love yall

**Author's Note:**

> o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶m̶m̶a̶ ̶m̶i̶a̶ ̶̶r̶e̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶c̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶
> 
> more chapters to come!


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